From One Extreme to the Other
by Clove
Summary: [COMPLETED]A Hogwarts student from long ago comes back, now in her late-thirties, she's back to help around the school. Her ties with Severus however, begin to rekindle while she's there...
1. Default Chapter

I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, places, spells, etc, I only own Liza McGill, and some other random characters who are mentioned throughout whom you do not recognize.

**CHAPTER 1**

_Two years had passed since the second war, also since Harry, Ron and Hermione had graduated. Harry and Ron were both well on their way to becoming Auroras, while Hermione was doing an internship with Professor McGonagall, student teaching as many classes as possible. Along with these new changes to Hogwarts, Liza pronounced Lieza McGill had joined the staff to do subbing in all classes, and help around the school with whatever needed. Liza was in her late-thirties, with just past the shoulder chocolate brown hair and coco eyes. Even though she was reaching her forties, you could easily mistake her for early thirties. _

_The opening feast was just about to begin, Dumbledore stood at the front of the hall, waiting for a brief second as the hall silenced._

"_Welcome back to another fabulous year. You may see a few new faces among our staff, they include Professor Granger, who will be helping out in the Transfiguration department. As well as Professor McGill, who will be helping out all around the school, and taking over classes when needed. As of this point, I will also say, that as the result of requests from students, we will be having an opening to the year ball, as well as Christmas, and an end of year ball. All years are invited to attend, and muggle dress wear is accepted. Now, tuck in." With that, the Headmaster sat as the golden platters and pitchers filled with food and drink._

_Chit-chat filled the hall as students began to eat, catching up on how their summers went and such. Up at the staff table, Professor McGonagall and Professor McGill were talking quickly as they ate._

"_How have you been? It's been such a long time." Liza asked, taking a sip of pumpkin juice. _

"_I've been well. Teaching has never been too tiring or too much work. The worst year was by far the year _Dolores _was here, and now, with Miss Granger's help, things are flowing a lot smoothly."_

"_I can believe that. Dolores was such a pain whenever I was around her, and I barely knew her, nor did I have to work with her for a year."_

"_Or get four stunning spells to the chest."_

"_Ah yes, thats never good." The two women ate in silence for the next few minutes._

"_So . . . " Minerva began, "What do you think about all these balls this year?"_

"_I think it's a marvelous idea! Students will mingle more, the houses seem to be so tight between themselves, and have no communication with others. Things have changed, it would be nice if they changed back. I liked it the way they were when I was here."_

"_Ah yes, I do recall those times." Minerva looked over at her co-worker, "You did quite a bit of mingling between houses, didn't you? Dating from one extreme to the other."_

"_Oh . . . " Liza replied rather quietly, drawing in her potatoes with her fork, "Yes, Gryiffindor to Slytherin, with myself in Ravenclaw."_

"_Yes, I'd have to say that Black and Severus were by far on opposite ends of the chain." _


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

_The start of term ball had reached Hogwarts school. The students had already had a day to settle in, get to know people, and for those who were dating, or close to it, confirm dates for the ball. Professors McGill, Snape and McGonagall had been chosen to supervise the ball, Severus however, had yet to show up._

"_I didn't expect him to come." Minerva commented, taking a sip of her punch. She and Liza were leaned up against the wall of the Great Hall as students mingled around, some of them dancing. _

"_Neither did I." Liza replied, "He was never one for these social events."_

"_Well he's missing out by not being here." McGonagall gestured toward the muggle dress Liza was wearing. "The muggle wear seems to be popular this year." The statement was true, around the hall, there were many dresses and suits, rather than dress robes. Liza's dress was made of a shimmery pink fabric, and came right below her knees. The neckline wasn't too low, but skin still showed, on her left shoulder, the strap twisted up like a vine, the other shoulder was a normal, thin strap._

"_I'll take that as a complement."_

"_You're welcome." Minerva smiled, "And yes, Severus never was one for social things. Even when he was over for a family dinner, he was so quiet, especially in our family." You must know now, that Minerva is Liza's aunt, her second-mother. When Liza was growing up, she spent a lot of her time with Minerva, including at Hogwarts._

"_Aunt Liza!" A voice called across the hall, Liza turned to see her seventeen-year-old niece, Kayte, hurrying toward her._

"_Yes doll?" She asked as her niece stopped infront of her._

"_I need your help."_

"_Who is it this time?" Liza asked, her nieces, ages twelve, fifteen, and seventeen, had a tendency to come to her with their problems, mostly about boys. Recently, Kayte had been really confused about men, and was moving quickly with whom she liked._

"_That one," She pointed to the opposite wall, "In the robes, he's a seventh year."_

"_Is he a Slytherin?"_

"_No, Hufflepuff."_

"_Good, because all Slytherin's are complete scoundrels who leave you waiting for them for years." A slight pang of anger and pain combined hit Liza, thinking of how she was left at the altar by her fiancee._

"_What about Severus?" Kayte asked, not knowing about the incident._

"_Yes, what about me?" Severus's cold voice asked from behind them. Liza turned around,_

"_Oh nothing. I was just telling Kayte here to not go after any boys from Slytherin, they tend to be a bit forgetful."_

"_Ah." The man replied, the walked around to the other side of Minerva. _

"_Kayte dear, go back to your friends now, the boy's fine." The woman said, sending her niece off across the hall._

_A couple of hours of useless chit-chat between Professors passed when things started to die down, almost one quarter of the students had left, mostly the younger ones, as it was past midnight. Minerva yawned slightly, turning to her co-workers,_

"_Would you two be all right if I headed off now? It's getting rather late for me." She asked._

"_Yeah, it's fine." Liza smiled, waving good-bye to her aunt. Severus did the same. A moment of awkward silence passed before the man spoke._

"_So . . . " He began, "Things seem to be going fine . . . would you care for a game of chess."_

"_Sure." The woman replied, following Severus over to a small table on the side of the hall, where a chess set had just appeared. The two sat, and began the game in silence._

"_Pawn to G4" Severus ordered, then, not looking up from the chess board "How are you?"_

"_Fine." Liza replied, "Pawn to F7."_

"_What's that supposed to mean? Pawn to D3."_

"_It means that I'm doing fine. Not too bad, not too great. Pawn to R9."_

"_I see." He sighed, "You aren't still mad, are you? Knight to J6."_

"_No. I was for a good deal of time, but it wore off. Pawn to K8."_

"_I'm glad. Pawn to D9." Liza's eyes looked up, she saw that Severus was looking over at her as well._

"_Me too. Knight to D9." She instructed, then watched as her knight destroyed Severus' pawn, a smirk on her face._

"_Your game has yet to fail you." He smirked, "Rook to C4."_

"_I know. Knight to F7." The knight moved, "How has teaching been going?"_

"_Well. Pawn to G3."_

"_How was Potter? Pawn to H4."_

"_Hell. Rook to H4."_

"_I believe that. Pawn to A2."_

"_Obviously. Knight to A2."_

"_I hang around with James nearly my whole third year, thank to Sirius, and he wasn't easy to handle. Rook to G3." The woman risked a quick glance up, there was no anger in Severus' eyes._

"_I know you did. That's what bothered me throughout the time we were together, the fact that you slept with Black. Knight to G3."_

"_Crap." Liza muttered, "And I was thirteen, young, and absolutely stupid. I regretted it for the rest of my life, and you know that. Knight to H4."_

"_True." He sighed, "Knight to G5."_

_The chess game continued on into the night, when it was nearing the end, Liza looked up to find the Great Hall completely empty except for them._

"_Uh . . . Sev?"_

"_Yes?" The man looked up._

"_Were we supposed to patrol the halls after the ball, to make sure the students got to bed, alone."_

"_I think we were." He looked down at the board, "Why don't we just call this a tie, and continue at the next ball."_

"_All right." Liza pushed herself up from her chair as the board vanished. Severus then left the hall, she followed at his heels. When the entered the black hallway, they both lit their wands, and walked side by side, searching for occupied students._

"_This should be excruciatingly fun." The man said, a small smile on his face as he looked at the woman beside him._

"_Absolutely thrilling." Liza looked beside her, catching Snape's smiling face. His cheeks flushed slightly as he quickly looked downward. They walked on in a comfortable silence, finding many pairs of students snogging in the halls. Soon enough, they came to the door outside Liza's living quarters._

"_I suppose you'll be leaving now." Severus slowed his pace, stopping outside her door._

"_Yes." The young woman, shook a loose strand of hair off her face. "I'm pretty sure Filch and some others will be patrolling the halls all night."_

"_True." Snape laughed, a smile on his face, the light from his wand reflecting happily off it. Suddenly, that light went out._

"_Sev . . . " Liza giggled softly, "What are you doing?" Her voice became quieter as she heard and felt him coming nearer to him._

"_I've missed you so much." He whispered. The man was so close Liza could feel the warmth of his breath against her face, she could smell the savory scent of him as he neared her._

"_I've missed you just as much." She whispered back, her eyes slowly shut as her arms reached out for Severus. Liza felt a warm hand on her lower back, pulling her close to his body, their lips were not even an inch apart when a light flew on just down the hallway. Immediately, the two tore apart, flustered as Minerva walked up to them._

"_Minerva?" Severus nearly shrieked, "I thought you were already asleep."_

"_I was." She replied groggily, "Albus woke me up so that I could check around the halls."_

"_We were doing that." Liza replied, "But we figured Filch would take care of whoever we didn't."_

"_Patrolling the halls were you?"_

"_Yes." Severus replied, "Liza was just about to leave to her rooms, and I was going to mine."_

"_Ah. I see." Minerva turned to leave, "I will see you tomorrow then." The older woman then left the hallway, extinguishing her wand as she went._

"_Well . . . " Liza coughed slightly, "I'll uh . . . see you tomorrow." She entered her rooms, sharing a smile with Severus before closing the door._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

_The day after the ball, Liza woke later than everyone else, as she had no classes, she had no reason to get up earlier than needed. The woman fixed herself something to eat, pulled her robes on over top of her clothes, and, during the break between classes, headed to Minerva's room. _

_Liza entered the room halfway through the class, Minerva was sitting at the back of the room, while Hermione taught. The younger woman slipped into the back of the class, sliding over to where her aunt sat, she took a seat beside her._

"_Hey." She whispered._

"_Hello." Minerva smirked at the younger woman._

"_What was that for?"_

"_Last night."_

"_What do you mean last night?"_

"_You and Severus? Patrolling the halls wasn't even close to what you were doing. I can see rather well in the dark you know."_

"_Oh hush up." Liza softly snapped, "It was nothing, we were walking the halls, and I was leaving. Severus was merely saying good night when you came out of nowhere."_

"_Merely saying good night?" Minerva raised an eyebrow, "Liza, you were so happy when you were together, I knew this was going to happen, and so did you. You're falling for Severus again."_ _Liza fumbled with the arm of her robes for a moment, then looked up._

"_I think I am." The older woman smiled over at her._

"_Isn't it a good thing? From what I've heard, you haven't dated since then."_

"_No . . . I haven't." She sighed, "One experience since then, thats it."_

"_Why don't you go back to him?"_

"_Min, you know what he did! How can you say that?" Her voice was shrill enough, even as a whisper to make a few of the students in the classroom turned around. "Sorry." She muttered._

"_Liza you said it yourself earlier, you miss him. He misses you, and obviously you forgave him for what he did. Last night it seemed like you two were getting along perfectly, you were inches away from kissing . . . then I came in . . . which I am sorry about. If I had known it was you two, I wouldn't have come . . . but students were all over the school."_

"_True."_

"_Then go tell him."_

"_Tell him? Are you crazy? I just got back! But . . . maybe I will go see him, build up again." Almost at that exact moment, the bell rang, signifying the switch between classes once again. Liza jumped up, "I'll see you later!" She called over the students, and hurried off to the dungeons._

_The woman arrived long before the class arrived. Severus looked up from his lesson as he heard the door close._

"_Liza." He greeted, a small smile on his face, "Will you be working with the next class?"_

"_Uh . . . sure." She shrugged, walking up to his desk. "I didn't really have anything else to do, I haven't gotten anything scheduled yet."_

"_Where were you last class?"_

"_Talking with Minerva."_

"_Ah." Severus stepped closer to her, "Well you know you're welcome here anytime right?"_

"_Of course." She smiled at him, she felt her cheeks flushing. Minerva was right, she was falling in love with Severus all over again. Liza felt herself drifting toward him, but suddenly the door opened, students pouring in. Liza backed away, as Severus directed the class._

"_Take your seats." He said strongly, "Professor McGill will be helping out today." The woman smiled at the class, taking a seat behind Severus' desk as he began to teach._


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

_For the next month, Liza found herself spending nearly every day in Severus' room, helping out with potions. With the younger classes, she would wander around, stopping them from making their potions the wrong way, so they wouldn't get in deep trouble. This, and the fact that with Liza in his class, Snape would go a little soft, helped students increase their marks. In the older classes however, Liza spent little time helping the students. Rather, she spent her time behind the desk with Severus. _

_It was like they were back in school themselves, flirting insanely as the classes worked on their potions, now, allowed to talk as their professor was too occupied to notice it. _

"_I want those essays on moonstone in next class!" Snape shouted over the noise of the last class on Friday, late in October. After the class left, Liza picked up a few loose pieces of parchment, and walked up to Severus' desk, tossing the paper in the garbage._

"_That went rather well." She sighed happily, coming through her hair with her hand. _

"_Things have been going a lot better since you started helping out." The man commented, then quickly added, "Not that I really needed it, they're just more occupied."_

"_Of course." Liza laughed softly, smiling as Severus stacked a pile of fifth-year's essays onto his desk. He looked up at her._

"_What?" He asked, seeing the look on her face._

"_Nothing" She replied, in a whisper._

"_Of course." He muttered._

"_Well . . . " The woman began again, stepping toward him, "I was just thinking about supervising for the next ball."_

"_Have you been asked? It's not until Christmas."_

"_No . . . but last time was kind of fun." She shook the hair out of her face, looking over at Severus._

"_Are you suggesting that I volunteer to work it?"_

"_Well . . . yes." The man sighed, shaking his head._

"_Only if you're staying with me the entire time, and there's some sort of entertainment called chess involved."_

"_Fine with me." Liza smiled, she turned to leave, but felt Snape's hand on her arm, pulling her back._

"_Sev . . . what are you . . . " The sudden warm sensation of Severus' lips against hers filler her with joy. It had been a long time, too long . . . much too long. She kissed him back with just as much passion, if not more. Finally, the couple pulled away from each other._

"_I've been dying to do that since you got back here." Severus whispered, holding Liza close to him, her head on his chest._

"_I'm so glad you did. I didn't want to wait any longer." Liza replied, wrapping her arms around the man tightly, as if to never let him go._


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

_The day after Severus and Liza had kissed, they did not speak normally for nearly two months. Liza had gone back to her rooms thinking '_What have I done? He left me at the altar . . . how on earth could I go back to him? I've been driven crazy by lust . . . it can't happen again until I get my head cleared up.' _And thus, had not gone back to help out with Snape's classes for two weeks. When she did turn up again, she and Severus were very awkward toward each other. They rarely spoke, and when they did, avoided each other's eyes, their cheeks flushing._

_Now however, the Christmas season was approaching them, holly, trees, and garland decorated the halls and classrooms, some, like Severus, remained un-festive. Liza spent her time working in Defence Against The Dark Arts and sitting at the back of the Transfiguration classroom talking with Minerva while Hermione taught._

_There were only a few days before the Christmas break, and the Christmas ball. Liza sat at the back of Minerva's classroom, a saddened expression on her face, as she was still utterly confused. Not even a second before class started, Minerva whipped into her classroom, taking a seat beside her niece as Hermione began the lesson. McGonagall looked over at the younger woman._

"_What's wrong?" Liza looked over at her, breaking her thoughts._

"_I don't really know." She sighed, looking down, "I'm more confused than anything." _

"_Severus?" Minerva waved her wand, placing a silencing charm around the area they were in so they weren't heard by others._

"_Yes."_

"_You said you were falling in love with him again . . . what happened?"_

"_I don't think it was love. I mean, I enjoy being with him and all, but once we kissed, I felt like half of me was ready to leave. I think it could just be lust."_

"_You kissed?"_

"_Yeah."_

"_When?"_

"_October." Liza looked up, "Sorry for not telling you sooner, it was just kind of awkward."_

"_Ah." The older woman replied._

"_Anyway," She waved her hand, "Any ideas on what I'm supposed to do?"_

"_Well . . . " Minerva paused, "There's only one thing that might work . . . and I think you know what I mean." Liza raised an eyebrow, it was odd for her aunt to mention things on such a topic._

"_That's interesting . . . " She sighed, leaning back against the wall, her eyes glanced at Hermione, as if surveying her body. Minerva saw this, and gently slapped Liza's arm._

"_Don't." The woman warned._

"_Don't what?"_

"_I saw that look in your eyes. Miss Granger is only twenty, she was still a student three years ago! You're not doing anything."_

"_Is she straight?" The woman asked, a seducing tone coming from within her._

"_I don't know!" Minerva shrieked, "And Liza, please don't."_

"_It's only a possibility." Liza replied, standing up, "Besides, it'll help me distinguish how I feel about Severus."Her aunt sighed, rolling her eyes. "I'm off now." The younger woman waved, leaving the room._


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Sorry to any of you that dislike this chapter, but it is the only slash in this story, and it's only mentioned. Also, I do not own the song "Its Possible."

**Chapter 6**

_Two days later, Liza popped into the Transfiguration classroom. Minerva was already sitting at the back of the classroom, both she and Hermione looked up as Liza entered. The woman smiled, sliding into a chair beside her aunt's, Minerva waved her wand, once again using a silencing charm._

"_Well it wasn't lust." Liza stated quietly, risking a quick glance at her aunt._

"_Please tell me you managed to leave the school to discover that."_

"_Uh . . . no . . . I didn't." Minerva rolled her eyes._

"_You should have." She sighed, "I know you too well." She muttered._

"_Well, there are many things you don't know about Miss Granger." Minerva sighed heavily._

"_From the moment you told me that you were bisexual." The woman nearly spat the word, not really approving of it, "I knew it would cause trouble."_

"_Don't worry." Liza laughed, "She knows it was only once, and that was that."_

"_Good. Now, let us move on."_

"_All right."_

"_Oh!" McGonagall nearly jumped up, "I almost forgot to tell you, I can't supervise with you at the ball anymore. I've been asked to do some other work."_

"_Yeah right." The other woman scoffed, "You just want to see what will happen without you there."_

"_It's possible."_

"_What's possible?"_

"_Anything's possible." Minerva smiled, then began to sing ever-so-softly so that you could barely hear her "This might be a pool like I've read of in books, connected to one of those underground brooks! An underground river that starts here and flows, right under this bathtub and then-who knows! It's possible, anything's possible." Liza smiled, laughing softly._

"_I'll always remember that song."_

"_That's because you heard it anytime you were over at my house, which was a lot."_

"_True." She jumped up, "I'm going to head off now."_

"_I'll see you at lunch."_

"_Yup." Liza smiled as she exited the room. Sighing heavily, she then began on her way through the castle. Though she was taking her time, and got rather sidetracked because of her thoughts, she managed to make it to the potions classroom just before the bell._

_Severus looked up over the mass of students handing in vials of potions when he heard the door close. Liza smiled at him, looking directly at him, not shying away like she had for nearly the last two months. She simply walked through the sea of students, and took her seat at the front of the class, the seat that had been emptied far too long. _

"_Once you have handed in your potions and cleaned your stations, you may leave." Snape called out to his class, shocking many of them. However, they took this bonus, and the room was empty within seconds. _

_The man turned to Liza._

"_You're back?"_

"_Yes." She smiled, "Finally."_

"_I'm glad."_

"_Minerva won't be with us tonight at the ball, she's got some other work to do." Severus laughed._

"_I doubt it."_

"_That's what I said." There was a slight, non-awkward pause between the two. "Sev . . . " Liza began, sliding off the chair and taking a step toward him, "I'm really sorry about the last couple of months. I just . . . " Severus closed the distance between them, pulling her into a tight hug._

"_It's okay." He whispered, "After what I did, I never thought I'd see you again. To have you come to Hogwarts was one thing, but to have you come back to me was just amazing." The woman smiled, burring her face into his robes, absorbing the rich smell, and warmth of his body. Severus kissed her head softly, happy to know that she was back. _


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

_The Christmas ball had now dawned on Hogwarts, only about five minutes had passed, Liza stood beside the refreshments table, talking animatedly with her niece, Kayte. The seventeen-year-old was once again confused and asking about the young men in her year._

"_Kayte, it's pretty simple with some of the guys," Liza began, "If you want to get them into bed, lower your neck line, and hit on them. If you want a relationship, you flirt with them a little, make yourself known."_

"_What did you do to get Severus?"_

"_What?" Liza nearly jumped, not expecting that particular person to become involved._

"_What did you to ask Severus out?"_

"_Uhh...he asked me out. I simply said yes."_

"_Did you like him before?"_

"_Only as a friend dear, but, things then changed."_

"_Oh." Kayte sighed, slightly disappointed that she hadn't gotten the answer she wanted. "Okay..I'll just do my best." Liza smiled down at her niece, she patted her shoulder before the seventeen-year-old hurried off across the room. The woman sighed lightly, wondering where the other supervisor was, she soon got her answer. Severus came up behind her, placing his soft hands on her hips, then kissed her neck lightly. She turned around quickly._

"_So you were planning on coming." She greeted, smiling._

"_Only if you were here." He replied, they walked over to the small table in the corner, "There were a few students rule breaking that I came across on my way here, I had to deal with them."_

"_It's fine." Liza sat down just as the chess board appeared. Severus sighed heavily as he sat opposite of her._

"_You all right?" She looked over at him, blocking out the noise of the ball. He looked up, _

"_I'm fine." A small smile spread across his face, "You do know that you look extremely beautiful tonight right?" Liza's cheeks flushed slightly, she glanced down at herself. It was a plain dress, spaghetti strapped, orange, with a black ribbon around the waist. _

"_Thank you Sev." She responded using a nick-name that he hadn't heard for a long time. _

"_Anytime." He replied before they started the chess game. The game continued on until the ball was slowly ending, students were mingling in the hallways and entrance hall, which Filch was busy taking care of. The chess game ending, Severus won, as usual, the two looked up as the board vanished. _

"_It appears that everyone has left already." Liza stated, standing up and stretching out her back._

"_It does." Severus replied, also standing up. He walked over to the woman, placing his hands on her slender waist, she clasped her hands behind his neck in response, stepping closer to him. Severus leaned toward her, kissing her softly, when they departed, Liza spoke._

"_I wish you had done that sooner." She whispered, kissing his cheek. _

"_So did I." He replied, "Would you care to come for my rooms for a cup of tea?"_

"_Of course." The man then took her hand in his and led her through the castle, taking her down to his rooms._


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

_Severus sat down on the couch back in his rooms, place two cups of tea infront of him and Liza on the table._

"_Thanks." Liza said quietly, picking up a cup, she took a sip._

"_Anytime." Severus replied, also taking a sip of the tea. The pair both placed their cups back onto the table._

"_This is really nice, you know." The woman shifted over, leaning over on Severus' shoulder._

"_I'm glad you like it." He wrapped her arm around her and they sat in silence for few minutes. Liza then slowly stood up, pulling Severus with her. " What are you doing?" He whispered._

"_Ssshh." She replied, smiling softly. Liza leaned closer to him, kissing him gently. The man wrapped his hands around her waist, pulling her closer. They departed, Liza looked up at Severus, smiling. "You know what?" She whispered, and began playing with one of the clasps on his robes, "I don't think I want to leave tonight."'_

"_That's perfectly fine with me." Severus replied, kissing her again, and the tea was soon forgotten._

_The next day had now dawned upon Hogwarts. Severus was awoken by a sudden rapping on the window . He rolled over, pushing the blankets off him, and let the owl in, then read through the letter. The man jumped, looking over at the clock, and sure enough, it was already past ten-thirty. _

"_Liza." He called gently. The woman slowly rolled over, squinting slightly._

"_Mmpf." She replied. _

"_It's past ten-thirty, I've got to get to my classes." Liza looked over at the clock, then jumped out of the bed as well._

"_I'll need to be going too." She began, throwing her robes on, on top of her clothing. "Minerva will have enough questions as we both missed breakfast, much less up until ten-thirty."_

"_Knowing Hogwarts, it will already be known amongst the staff and possibly some students."_

"_Most likely." The woman laughed softly, walking over to Severus. "You have no idea how much I've missed you." She whispered, kissing him gently. _

"_Only if you've missed me more than I've missed you." He replied, kissing her back. _

"_But of course." The couple shared one last kiss before heading off their separate ways to the classes._

_As Liza entered her aunt's class, only Minerva looked up, everyone was used to having her pop in during lessons now-a-days. Minerva raised an eyebrow at her niece as she sat down._

"_Someone's a little late getting up this morning."_

"_Yeah..." She replied, "Slept in a little late."_

"_Well I'm sure." Minerva stated, "After the ball last night, you must have been exhausted from playing chess."_

"_Oh shush!" Liza flicked her hair behind her shoulders, "You know very well what happened, and you also know that you partially caused it."_

"_And how would I have done that?"_

"_By not working with us last night. If you had been at the ball, you would have had to been supervising the halls afterwards, which means nothing would have happened."_

"_And my plan worked."_

"_Exactly!" The younger woman paused, realizing what had been said, "Wait a minute...what plan?"_

"_Liza..." Her aunt began, "Since the day you and Severus got together, everyone's been waiting for you to get married and start a family. You're perfect for each other, and everyone knows it, what happened before didn't cancel the plans, just simply postponed things."_

"_Yeah...I guess I kinda knew that." She sighed lightly, "Do you really think that it was meant to be?"_

"_The better question, is do you?" Minerva looked over at the younger woman, an eyebrow raised._

"_Well...yes." Liza replied, looking up._

"_Then make sure you tell him that." The older woman patted her shoulder._

"_Okay..." Liza stood up, "I'm going to go get some breakfast, I'll see you later." She smiled, and left the room._


	9. Chapter 9

_**Chapter 9**_

_Liza had gone down to the kitchens, and gotten some breakfast, and then waited until the break to enter Severus' classroom. Knowing that there was a class coming in shortly, she didn't close the door._

"_Back so soon?" Severus asked as she neared the front of the class._

"_But of course." Liza smiled, closing her arms behind his neck, kissing him gently._

"_What did Minerva say?"_

"_She said that it was interesting that I was getting up so late. And then she said that of course we'd be getting up late because we were so tired from playing chess."_

"_Ah Minerva. She's always been like that." He laughed to himself, "Did she say anything else?"_

"_Well . . . Uh . . . yeah she did." Liza buried her face into Severus' chest. He looked down at her._

"_What did she say?"_

"_She mentioned that since you and I had gotten together in the first place, we were meant to me." She replied without looking up at the man. _

"_Maybe she was right." Liza looked up._

"_You really think so?"'_

"_Do you?"_

"_Well . . . yes." Severus opened his mouth to reply, but students for the next class began entering the class, causing the couple to tear apart._

_The rest of the morning was rather relaxed, Severus assigned potions to the students, and Liza would be sitting either in her usual spot, doing marking for him, or out helping the students with their potions. Something they greatly appreciated. Finally, the bell rang, and the students quickly left the class, heading for lunch. _

_Severus levitated the last of the potion vials into a cupboard on the side of the room, then walked over to Liza, wrapping his arms protectively around her. _

"_I never want to let you go again." His voice spoke softly throughout the room._

"_Please don't." Liza replied in a whisper. Severus' kissed her head._

"_I promise." The couple stayed in silence for a moment. The man felt better than ever to feel the warmth of her body flowing through to his, smelling the lilac smell of her hair. The greatest things in the world. Liza was happy to be in his arms once again, and happy that he had realized how big a mistake he had made all those years ago. She was very glad that he had taken her back, and had now promised not to leave her again._

_Liza pulled her head away slightly, looking up at him, she kissed him passionately. He returned it, never wanting to pull away, after a few minutes though, the oxygen between them was running low. They pulled away, Severus then spoke._

"_We should get down to lunch." He whispered, "It was bad enough missing breakfast, imagine what the staff will say if we missed another meal." Liza laughed heartily._

"_Of course." She then pulled him into one more kiss, "I love you Sev."_

"_I love you too." He smiled, kissing her once again before the couple left for the meal._


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

_Saturdays at Hogwarts were rather relaxing for the teachers, as they didn't have too much to do. Liza sat at Severus' desk with him, marking essays from the third years._

"_There has to be a better way to do this." She commented, flipping over a freshly marked essay, putting it into the middle pile. _

"_If only." Severus replied, glancing over at her, he laughed softly, "After so many years of this, you think someone would have come up with a better way."_

"_Exactly." Liza turned her attention to the next essay. The pair spent the next few minutes marking in silence. The woman jumped slightly when the alarm on her watch went off. "Crap." She muttered to herself, placing down the quill as she stood up. "Sev, I've got to go, I promised to meet Minerva at the Leaky Cauldron."_

"_You're meeting her there?"_

"_Yeah. She was doing some shopping before hand." Severus stood up, his hand twitched slightly toward his pocket, but he stopped it. "I'll see you later." Liza wrapped her arms around him, kissing him passionately._

"_That you will." He replied quietly, "I love you."_

"_Love you too." She whispered, then departed, pulling her cloak on. Even though it was only early January, it was raining heavily outside, and she had to walk to the edge of the grounds to apparate. _

_Liza then left the dungeons, walking quickly through the quiet hallways of the school. Most teachers were in their rooms, or in the teachers lounge, and most students were in their house towers, thus, the halls were mostly deserted. The woman pulled her cloak tight around her as she began to walk through the rain. Her hand was inches away from opening the gate, when a shout came from behind her._

"_Liza!" She turned to see Severus running up to her, only in his school robes, he had no cloak, and was absolutely soaking._

"_Sev, what're you doing out here?" She asked as he stopped, inches away from her._

"_I have to ask you something."_

"_Hun, I'll be back in a few hours."_

"_This is important." He replied, taking her hand in his, he was suddenly down on his knee. "Liza, I've loved you since the moment I met you...will you please marry me?" Tears sparkled in the woman's eyes._

"_Oh Sev..." She gasped, "I thought you'd never ask, of course I will!" Severus slipped the ring around her finger, then jumped up, pulling her into the tighest hug, ending with the most passionate embrace known._

**Fin**


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